It's been quite the season for star freshman Jase Richardson and Michigan State basketball.
Coming in as the second-highest ranked Spartan signee in the 2024 class behind Kur Teng, not many fans saw Richardson having as massive of an impact as he has had through the first 27 games of his Michigan State career. He was almost an instant sensation, showing his ability to score from everywhere and his efficiency from day one.
Richardson is one of two Spartans averaging over 10 points per game this season and right now he's the hottest freshman in the Big Ten outside of maybe Dylan Harper or Derik Queen.
In fact, he's averaging 17.2 points per game over his last five and he's taken over in games against Oregon and Michigan, scoring 29 and 21, repsectively.
Richardson's recent coming-out party has been noticed nationwide and there are NBA scouts drooling over the prospect. He's a sharpshooter who isn't afraid to get muddy on defense and he absorbs contact on the way to the basket, usually finishing strong with a chance for an and-one. He's also tops on the team, shooting 40 percent from deep.
For a guy who shoots as much as he does from everywhere on the court, converting on over 50 percent of his field goals and 40 percent from deep is impressive.
It's why Bleacher Report has him listed as a top-10 pick in their latest NBA Mock Draft.
They tout his upside which has been realized since he's been inserted into the starting lineup and this was actually kickstarted by Jeremy Fears missing the Oregon game. If he didn't get sick and miss that game, would we have seen this launch into stardom for Richardson? It's hard to say, but everyone knew he was talented enough to break out.
It'll be interesting to see if he wants to head to the league and maybe be viewed as a "project" or if he wants to develop for one more season and take the Gary Harris and Miles Bridges route. It did work out for those two, but a top-10 pick may be too much to pass up.